World leaders to mark centenary of World War I armistice in Paris

Some 65 world leaders were due to mark the centenary of the end of World War I at a solemn commemoration at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Sunday.

French President Emmanuel Macron and visiting heads of state were expected on the Champs-Elysees at 11 am (1000 GMT), one hundred years to the minute since the guns fell silent along the Western Front after four years of war.

After military honours, the French army's bugle call for the dead will sound, followed by a minute of silence and then the French national anthem.

After readings and music, Macron will make a brief speech. The ceremony will end with the relighting of the flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe and the laying of a wreath.

Leaders from World War I belligerents including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia and the United States are all expected, along with many from countries that were neutral or had not yet gained their independence.

Most of them will later attend a peace forum summoned by Macron to commemorate the end of the conflict.

World War I pitted an alliance that included Britain, France, Russia, and later Italy and the US, against the Central Powers including Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman Empire.

In total, some 40 countries were involved in the 1914-1918 conflict. Around 9 million soldiers were killed along with millions of civilians.